HeyJaredM.R. James Appreciation Society
Musings in early medieval history, manuscripts and PhD studies.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 7
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- Sep 28, 2026
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- Jul 6, 2026
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Eighteenth-century Oxford imposter syndrome, the history of manuscript studies and a ‘precarious life’ (opens the original)
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Oxford has always had a unique way of making me feel small; I applied to the university aged seventeen, along with every man and his dog, to St John’s College to study History. I completely flopped my interview (no seriously, it was horrendous and I struggle even thinking about it, nearly ten years on) and understandably I was rejected. A few unsavoury individuals I used to know also attended the university, so I avoided the city for years, struggling to distinguish between the disdain I felt to
Can we ‘see’ Christianity? (opens the original)
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This piece is an adaptation of chapter 2 of my MA thesis, which explored the evidence and issues with interpreting the lay Christian experience in Northumbria between 600-750 CE.What does it mean to “create” a holy space? First of all, we must recognise that spaces are intrinsically and objectively “holy”; they are actively chosen and/or created in accordance with the beliefs and world-views of their architect/s.1 This is key when unders
A medievalist in Vincennes (opens the original)
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I am a firm believer in the importance and prioritisation of holidays during your PhD, or during graduate studies in general. It’s partially why I haven’t posted as much this summer. Thanks to their free-flowing nature (and sometimes lack of adherence to traditional term timetables), it is very easy to forget that you haven’t taken any extended time off in months. This is not a good thing. It’s why I believe that you should always have the next holiday booked - whether that’s a day off to dedica
We should all be teaching (opens the original)
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Back in April of 2025, my then part-time employers at Kingston Adult Education told me that they needed someone to take over one of their classes, as the man who’d been running it for the past few years was now retiring. KAE had initially hired me to run jewellery classes for them, but when they saw the rest of my CV had asked me if I’d be interested in running some history workshops and sessions for them too. At this point in time, I was stuck in a dead-end office job that was going through som
Manuscripts and magic in the world of M.R. James (opens the original)
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On the 28th of July of this year, M.R. James Appreciation Society amassed 1,000 subscribers and to put it rather lightly, I am in disbelief. Whether you subscribed way back at the start of my blog in June of 2025 or have only just found my work, I am incredibly grateful to all of you. Sharing the processes of my work as a PhD student, meeting so many wonderful other scholars, engaging with all those both history obsessed and, most of all, having an outlet to share my work on early medieval book
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